The Godfather II

"You broke my heart EA! You broke my heart!"

I have a confession to make. When I played the first Godfather game on the Wii, I hadn't actually seen any of the films. It does mean that I was a bit confused at first, but I eventually understood what was going on. So I decided to sit down and watch it, and enjoyed it so much I also ended up watching the other two films in the trilogy.

So by this time I was all ready for the second game in the series, having immensely enjoyed the first with all its fun gameplay elements, and obviously good storyline. This time I elected to get it on the 360, for the online play, and my obsession with achievements- very unhealthy.

Gameplay
Grand Theft Auto. You make a game where a bloke runs around a city shooting people, stealing cars and completed tasks for the local population, and you can't escape the comparison with it. Many fail at trying to live up to the bar this sets, but the original game succeeded in attempting to match it. Due to the time in which the film is set (the late 1950s), less emphasis is placed on driving- it is simply a method of getting from A to B in order to complete your missions. There are no street races or car-jacking episodes. Thus the driving physics aren't too advanced, but still hold out well.

Something that the original Godfather game did well was introduce a strategy element into the game. In order to become the Don, you need to own the whole city. And when you start out this summates to owning nothing. So you go round threatening the owners, and taking out rival mobsters that currently protect the place, so it becomes yours. Once you take all the businesses a rival family owns, you can take over their compound and destroy them for good. So whilst you're running around doing errands for Michael Corleone, you have to manage the fact that your enemies are trying to take over your properties. This means dividing your time appropriately between following the main story, and removing those that stand in your way. There is also the added bonus of crime rings- owning all the properties of one variety gives you a certain perk- like body armour or brass knuckles. Another ring will give you a different advantage. Lose one business to the enemy, and you lose your bonus. If another family owns a whole ring, then they get the upgrade. It is a strategy element that works well and encourages you to take over businesses in order to make your missions easier.

The introduction of family members to help you out is also a welcome addition, as it means managing the members of your team. As you start out you have to work out whether you want to risk dying by not having a medic to revive you, in order to get more cash from vaults, or being able to break into places with more ease. As the game progresses it allows you to add more people to do more abilities, and with a maximum of three people to follow you around, man management becomes key. My one niggle with it is that if you do need to change family members then the required soldier will appear out of nowhere. This defeats the whole point of ensuring a balance on missions, as you can switch people in and out of your party at your own leisure. The whole method of taking over businesses by threatening owners is a good idea, with each having their own weak spots. There are numerous ways to enter a building to get to the man in charge, and this depends on who you currently have in your family. Missions are a good mix, and don't get to repetitive- at no point are you forced to carry them out, unless you are looking to unlock a new area. There were no problems with the controls- they are simple enough- although changing weapon could be a bit more accurate. Overall the main mechanics all fit together nicely and allow for a balanced game. But it is definitely not flawless.

One of my major qualms with this game- and probably its biggest downfall is the difficulty of it. Once you get your gang going, it's very easy to take over everything. Business being attacked? Send in a couple of Capos and they'll soon sort it out, because you've easily earned enough money to upgrade them already. Whilst this is going on, you can just take out more businesses. Enemies also don't see to want to put up too much of a fight either, and the fact that marching round with three other guys who know where that person shooting at you is- even if you can't see him- means that dying is the last thing on your mind. This all comes about by there only being one difficulty level (unless they've hidden it away somewhere- I can't find it in the options screen). Being a short game, it does feel that a scalable AI would have been a wise choice to put in.

Things get a bit stupid when you get into Cuba, and everyone is out to kill you. Police roadblocks mean that trying to traverse them (and you have to to get anywhere) means you inevitably drive near an officer who dives out of the way, and then decides to call his friend to chase you around in circles. Try and fire a shot anywhere in the city, and you're suddenly surrounded by the police. Compare this to the American authorities, and I doubt walking into the local precinct and opening up a can of whoop-ass is going to get you little more than a ticking off. Even after all this, it is little more than an annoyance than a major increase in the difficulty level.
Score: 7/10

Story
Due to the occurrences in the original film, this games predecessor had an easy time following along with the story. The second film is less geared to making a smooth transition, so a number of different changes are made. As you are not Michael Corleone, you are sent between three different cities (New York, Miami and Havana), running some errands for Michael, but also for Hyman Roth- one of the main characters in the movie. The story in fact starts part of the way into the film in Cuba, but fits in well around it all. Don't go into it expecting to be playing directly along side the film, but you do participate in a number of events from it.

For something based on an Academy Award winning screenplay you expect something good. And although it doesn't match up, the games story is still adequate and believable enough to hold out well. It also does well in weaving missions in with events from the film.
Score: 8/10

Sounds
Every time I hear the opening trumpet from Nino Rota's theme, it sends a chill down my spine. And seeing as you have to sit through it every time you turn the game on, I'm surprised I'm not a shaking mess by now. That said, you rarely hear it throughout the game, instead most of the in game atmospheric music is your usual generic composition and nothing noticeable. The radio stations are all of the time, with a number of late 50s songs included- I even recognized a couple of popular ones.

Characters are well voiced, and every person will talk to you, even if they are just a passer by. Everyone also has their own name, which either took EA a very long time, or involves the use of a random name generator. It's a nice touch, but doesn't really add much to the game to know that you've just shot Leon May.
Score: 7/10

Visuals
The graphics are nothing groundbreaking. They're pretty blocky in places, but not in a bad way. The world map is impressive, as it's fully 3D and detailed down to the nearest tree, so you can see the features on all of the buildings. The draw distance is good, and there's no slow down experienced which can't be bad. I feel the setting of three different cities is an improvement on the first games generic New York look which did get a bit boring and often left me wondering where I was. This time there are more distinguished buildings which help navigation around the world much easier.
Score: 7/10

Replayability
Remember my love for achievements? That's usually something to make me want to play through a game again. Godfather II caused me great problems in that by the time I finished the main story, I had about 38 of the 41 achievements, and the remaining three took me another hour to clean up. They weren't difficult, and left me with nothing else but to go mindless killing sprees. There is an online mode which I felt was executed better than some of the stuff on GTA4. The community doesn't seem too large though, and the obvious downfalls of trying to get an accurate aim with a gamepad often come into play. It does allow you to level up your other family members, but there's not much point in that once you've finished the game with no hitches.
Score: 3/10

Value for Money
In this case, I feel that the game is just too short and simple to warrant paying full price for it. If you can pick it up from the bargain bin in a couple of years, then it's worth it. But unless you've got your heart set on playing online, you can rent it and have it completed in a two day gaming session. It took me just over 15 hours to complete, and I was hoping for a lot more.
Verdict: Rent

Overall Opinion
I don't want to give a scathing review to a game that I did enjoy over its course. Although it does have a number of obvious flaws, this isn't enough to stop it being a good game, just one that ends up feeling a disappointment. If you want a game that has a lot of depth to it, then this probably isn't what you're looking for. But if you like being a gangster and want something to entertain you for a few days then this is a game that will suffice.

Reviewer's Score: 6/10, Originally Posted: 06/08/09

Game Release: The Godfather II (EU, 04/09/09)